Any experincies with beaded probe technology..?..

[FBH]

Has anybody any expeinces with that in Scandinavia? If so, is it used in connection with Agilent Systems or can it be licensed to be used with other test systems?  Is accesabilty/ reliability to the test nodes satisfying?

[Agilent User]

Bead Probe Technology is an Agilent Patented Technology. A license for this can be requested from Agilent to be used on the 3070 Platform. If you are using a different platform you can ask your vendor to request the license at Agilent.

The technology itself is very reliable and offers a solid probing technique. There are already many companies utilizing it in their designs. It even offers contractors the ability to create additional probing spots in existing designs.

If you go to the Agilent home page and do a search on Bead probes you will find a lot of information. Customer reference stories, training material etc..

See also: http://www.home.agilent.com/agilent/editorial.jspx?action=download&cc=US&lc=eng&ckey=873640&nid=-536900432.0.00&id=873640

[knub]

Exactly what is licensed by Agilent?

Can a PWB designer not place a bead probe padstack on his board without a license from Agilent?
Can a test engineer not place a nail in his fixture to access a bead probe without a license from Agilent?

[Agilent User]

This what's licenced:

Agilent Medalist Bead Probe Technology is a proprietary technology for incorporating test probes (beads) on printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs), and testing PCBAs with these Test Probes. In addition to other intellectual property rights (IPR) in Agilent Medalist Bead Probe Technology, Agilent has filed several patent applications on various aspects of Bead Probe Technology, and these include fabricating PCBAs with Test Probes and testing PCBAs with Test Probes.

So to answer your 2 questions for the PWB designer and test engineer; not without a proper license.

[Artur Jutman]

Please, consider attending the Test Forum 2008 event in Tallinn. We are preparing an interesting program that tentatively will include also a presentation about experience with the Bead Probe technology.